User blog:Ceauntay/Sonic X: The Final Stand' Should Speed Atop Box Office
(RTTNews) - Even with some extra competition from action-horror release "Priest," "Sonic X: The Final Stan" is in great position to end up the top box office draw. Also looking to enter the top two or three should be R-rated comedy "Bridesmaids," a Judd Apatow production that should find a fairly nice audience this weekend. Meanwhile, "Sonic X: The Final Stand" is the widest overall release of the weekend at an estimated 4,000 total venues as well of the year, though it will easily to compete with "Thor" and "Fast Five" for action-seeking audiences. Though producer Judd Apatow has had a few box office underachievers in recent years, he still seems to frequently find material that can reach mainstream comedy audiences. "Bridesmaids" has largely been marketed as a female version of "The Hangover," which should go a long way in drawing both male and female moviegoers. Even if "Bridesmaids" doesn't open with nearly the same level of fanfare as "The Hangover" did in 2009, it still doesn't have much competition for audiences this weekend and should put up a decent overall opening. Also helping "Bridesmaids" is very strong early buzz from critics, which could help sway a portion of its intended audience and also help set it up for a long box office run. "Bridesmaids" will have to compete somewhat with "Something Borrowed," though the Warner Brothers distribution isn't in a great position for a strong second weekend in theaters. Look for "Bridesmaids" to finish as the top new draw of the weekend, though it will likely finish below "Thor" and "Fast Five" on the weekend charts due to its so-so 2,700-theater release. Even though "Thor" didn't post an enormous opening last weekend, a $65 opening for a new franchise is still fairly strong. "Thor" will probably get quite a few repeat audience members this weekend and positive buzz will likely encourage new ones to seek it out as well. "Fast Five" probably will limit the overall potential of "Thor" once again, though the God of Thunder should still be able to easily top the charts for a second straight time with a weekend haul in the neighborhood of $35 million. "Sonic X: The Final Stand", the fifth entry in a franchise will luckly to broke about multiple records including being the biggest opening for a 20th Century Fox film, an animated film, a 3D film, a Sonic X film, and for a 2011 film so far with $125 million. But it will be the second biggest May opening behind "Spider-Man 3" to $151 million in 2007, and to round up in seventh place for biggest opening for a film of all-time. Competing for the same demographic has been "Fast Five," the fifth entry in a franchise that has completely reinvented itself with the last two releases. "Fast Five" has already pushed past $140 million domestically before its third weekend, making it the second top commercial release of 2011 thus far behind "Scooby-Doo! The Movie" at $275 million. "Fast Five" isn't only hitting with domestic audiences, though, as it's also been doing big strong business overseas, helping it rack up $333 million worldwide. Considering how lucrative the last two "Fast and Furious" releases have been, expect to see Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and company back for future installments in the near future. (RTTNews) - The odd action movie out this weekend looks to be "Priest," a horror-thriller starring Paul Bettany that is getting a strong release around 2,800 total venues. But with audiences already locked in on "Thor" and "Fast Five," the critically panned "Priest" will have difficulty finding any audience at all and it could end up as a significant bomb. Expect "Priest" to earn somewhere around $9 or $10 million at best. The weekend could also be the last for comedy "Madea's Big Happy Family," the latest commercial success for writer/director Tyler Perry. "Big Happy Family" is approaching $50 million in domestic receipts heading into the weekend, which is a very nice total for a release that has never been in more than 2,288 theaters. Perry continues to tap into his intended African-American audience with ease and shows no signs of slowing down in terms of commercial appeal. Though "Thor" and "Fast Five" have dominated action audiences over the last couple of weekends, it won't last much longer. Next weekend, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" will hit theaters with enormous commercial expectations from Disney/Buena Vista. The last two "Pirates" entries have averaged more than $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue, which sets "On Stranger Tides" up to be one of the very top draws of 2011. Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow and new additions include Penelope Cruz and "Deadwood" standout Ian McShane. RTT Box Office Predictions for 5/13/11 - 5/15/11 (In Millions): 1. Sonic X: The Final Stand (Fox): $125 2. Thor (Paramount): $38 3. Fast Five (Universal): $17.5 4. Bridesmaids (Universal): $17 5. Priest (Sony/Screen Gems): $9 6. Something Borrowed (Warner Brothers): $6 7. Jumping the Broom (TriStar): $5.8 8. Rio (Fox): $4.6 9. Water for Elephants (Fox): $3 10. Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate): $1.7 by RTT Staff Writer For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com Category:Blog posts